Barack Obama Is Bumpin’ Charli XCX (Plus Shaboozey, Billie Eilish, and More)

The list of people, places, and things having a Brat summer continues to grow. You know by now, we’re sure, that Vice President Kamala Harris is bumpin’ that. But would you believe that Barack Obama is, too?

The former president included Charli XCX’s “365” near the very top of his annual summer playlist, released on Aug. 12. The song appeared next to Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” Those two choices at the top show us that Obama is both a man of the people — Shaboozey recently went to Number One on the Hot 100 — and a discerning listener who can appreciate a well-made British electro-pop banger about staying out all night getting twisted.

“With summer winding down, I wanted to share some songs that I’ve been listening to lately – and it wouldn’t be my playlist if it didn’t include an eclectic mix,” Obama wrote. “I hope you find something new to listen to!”

The rest of his playlist includes plenty of very-now pop moments, like Tommy Richman’s “Million Dollar Baby,” Moneybagg Yo and Morgan Wallen’s “Whiskey Whiskey,” Billie Eilish’s “Chihiro,” Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” and Bad Bunny and Feid’s “Perro Negro.” Have fun imagining him throwing it back to each of those songs in a club setting. There are also some classic oldies (the Miracles’ “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me,” the Supremes’ “Where Did Our Love Go,” the Stones’ “Satisfaction”), some Nineties jams (Blackstreet’s “No Diggity,” 2Pac’s “How Do U Want It,” Digable Planets’ “Rebirth of Slick”), and a smattering of indie rock (who told Barack Obama about Bonnie Light Horseman?).

There’s also “Silvio,” from Bob Dylan’s 1988 album Down in the Groove, which is generally regarded as a subpar Dylan effort — but hey, that’s a matter of taste, and maybe it has some special significance that they discussed when Obama gave Dylan the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.  

Many comments on Obama’s Instagram post came from Chappell Roan devotees disappointed to see that the former leader of the free world is not on board with their cause just yet. “Barack you ain’t livin if you ain’t listening to Chappell rn,” one wrote. “mr. president needs to go to the pink pony club,” wrote another. One person debatably claimed, “Obama you struck me as a Chappell Roan girly, I’m surprised she’s not on here tbh.”

Life is full of surprises.

Obama, who recently endorsed Harris’ presidential campaign, has been posting annual playlists each summer since 2015, when he was still in the Oval Office. Over the years, he’s endorsed songs by boygenius, Ice Spice, Lil Nas X, Rosalia, Harry Styles, Wet Leg, and lots of others. At one point, these playlists were met with questions each year about whether he was really the one choosing all these songs, but at this point he’s kept it going so long that we should probably just accept that Obama has reasonably cool taste in music. It doesn’t take a world leader to notice that Charli has this summer on lock, but apparently it helps.